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Kodava Samajas seek debate on Kasturirangan panel report

The Federation of Kodava Samajas has urged the State government to constitute a committee comprising all local elected representatives and community leaders, headed by an MLA from Kodagu district, to discuss the K. Kasturirangan committee report on Eco -Sensitive Zones (ESZ) in the Western Ghats related to Kodagu, apart from other issues.

The elected members should include gram panchayat members to the MP, they demanded, according to B.B. Subbaiah, honorary secretary of the body on Monday. He said the meeting should be organised at Madikeri, the district headquarters of Kodagu to effectively address the issue. The committee should have the scope for expansion and provisions for forming sub-committees.

The Federation members met recently at the Kodava Cultural Centre at Balugodu, near Virajpet in Kodagu to discuss ESZ. The Federation was of the opinion that the committee had failed in its mandate to effectively interact with all the stakeholders, mainly the people of the region, who would be affected directly by the decision on ESZ. The committee report was tantamount to arbitrarily disregarding the ground realities and the implementation of the report would adversely affect and disturb the livelihood of people, the members felt. The people of the region needed to be informed about the implications of the Madhav Gadgil Committee that looked into the issue before the Kasturirangan committee came into being at an appropriate platform, Mr. Subbaiah said.